Last year, the Call of Duty League, or CDL, kicked off its inaugural season with a burst of success. Due to the popularity of Call of Duty, the CDL has gone through major changes under the supervision of CDL Commissioner Johanna Faries. With the league embracing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and other Call of Duty titles, there is sure to be tons of footage for dedicated fans to enjoy.
Since the beginning of COVID, the CDL has had to shift to a primarily online format. Despite this change, the league's last season was a success, with last year's finals being the most-watched Call of Duty match in history. Using this experience, Faries has some interesting and notable changes for the second season of league activity.
There is a large list of changes coming to the CDL in season 2. A completely new structure has been designed, centering around five tournaments throughout the year. More notably, the game is shifting to a 4 vs. 4 format, which pushes each team to drop a starting player from their competitive roster. All matches will be played via PC this year, and the game is shifting into Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Faries states that players and teams have been involved in all of the change decisions saying, "we tend to mine for feedback pretty rigorously."
The competitive Call of Duty community seems relatively pleased with these changes as the structural shift makes each individual match matter. Teams earn points in every match, and the top eight clubs will make it to a playoffs game at the end of the CDL season. Faries stresses that every match will matter and that the entire process "adds up."
This is a great time for the CDL 2021 season to start as Call of Duty is in its peak popularity for the year. With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War as one of the top-selling titles of 2020 and new audiences reached through Call of Duty Mobile and Warzone, the CDL intends to take full advantage of the extra attention.
The one question that has not been answered is when the CDL intends to return to in-person events. Faries states that although everyone wants to return, the CDL is going to wait until it is safe and responsible to do so. While 2021's season will start online, the future of the CDL relies on the global Call of Duty community coming together in a single competitive vision.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: The Verge